Tympanum.



C. E. GARDNER.

TYMPANUM.

APPLICATION HLED 58.11. 1918.

Yatented Oct. 22, 1918.

CARL E. GARDNER, 0F CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

TYMPANUM.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Oct 22, 1918 Application filed February 11, 1918. Serial No. 216,469.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL E. GARDNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Tympani, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to tympani or kettledrums and more particularly to tuning de vices for the same, and has for its principal object the provision of means whereby the pitch of such drums may be altered rapidly and accurately by a single motion of the drummer.

In the ordinary type of kettledrums the sole means ofvarying the pitch of the tone consists of a plurality of independent straining mechanisms adapted to increase the ten sion of the drum head skin disposed at various points about the periphery of the kettle, each of which mechanisms, usually six in number, is operated independently by a rotatable handle, It is therefore necessary to turn each of the handles separately when it is desired to change the pitch, and to test the result, as a definite predetermined degree of rotationcannot be depended upon to produce an accurate variation where the strain is applied at a plurahty of points; furthermore rotation to an exact degree 1s difiicult to effect upon six independent handles in the brief intervalaiforded the drummer to make a change during the performance of certain musical compositions. Various devices have been suggested or employed to obviate this deficiency of the ordinary tympani, notably the leverage pedal mechanisms, many of which embody prohibitive disadvantages, and none of which are satisfactory. In my new and improved drum the ower is applied at a single point by a single motion of the drummer, and a definite predetermined strain, adapted to effect with the requisite degree of accuracy the desired variation of pitch distributed uniformly, synchronously and almost instantaneously throughout the entire periphery of the head. The means by which I, accomplish the foregoing results consists of a kettle. supported upon a stand and movable in a vertical plane with reference to the stand, means adapted to move. the kettle embodying an, actuating pedal and, intermediate automatic locking shaft and bevel gear mechanism, and means adapted to retain, the flesh hoop in a fixed position independent of the movement of the kettle. Further advantages of my new and improved kettledrum reside in its relatively simple construction, ease of operation,

light weight, low cost, and compact character adapting it to be readily knocked down for transportation, and in the particular construction and combination of parts to be hereinafter shown and described.

In the accompanying drawing in which like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the various figures there of, Figure 1 is a front elevation of my new and improved kettle drum; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, and Fig. 3 is a plan view, showing in dotted lines a portion of the operating mechanism.

Referring to Fig. 1, 10 is a tripod. Supported on the tripod 10 in any suitable manner is the stanchion 9 provided at its upper portion with a vertically disposed socket 21 adapted to receive, guide and afford lateral support to the lower extremity of the screw threaded post 11. The upper extremity of the post 11 engages the socket 22 in the disk 17 from which disk extend three Y shaped supporting frames 18 the upper extremities 23 of which are bolted to the wall of the kettle 1. Secured to the lower extremity of the stanchion 9 by the screw 24 is the elbow support 25 provided with the sleeve-bearing 26. Mounted in the sleeve bearing 26 is the rock shaft 14 the inner extremity of which is journaled in the wall of the stanchion 9. Secured to the outer extremity of the shaft 14 is the pedal 15 provided with the toe offset 16. Adjacent the inner extremity of the shaft 14: is keyed the vertical bevel gear 13 meshing with the horizontal bevel gear 12. The gear 12 is interiorly screw threaded to engage the screw thread of the post 11, and its lower surface 28 is forced by the weight of the kettle and supporting parts to bear against the upper extremity of the stanchion 9. The thread on the post 11 and the interior thread of the gear 12 are cut to effect an upward movement of the kettle 1 when pressure is applied to the heel 29 of the pedal 15, and therefore a downward movement of the kettle when pressure is applied to the offset 16. Secured to the stanchion 9 are three straining rods 8 each provided at its upper extremity with a hook 30 adapted to engage the crotch 31 of one of three V shaped straining frames 7 Drawn over the rim of the kettle 1 and secured to the flesh hoop 3 which embraces without contact the periphery of the kettle adjacent its rim, is the skin drum head 2. Upon the hoop 3 is superposed a straininghoop 4, to which are secured six lugs 5, each provided with a ball-socket 32.

Each of the hand screws 6 is provided adjacent its handle with a ball 6 adapted to engage a socket 32, and at its lower extremity with a screw thread adapted to engage one of the screw threaded ears 33 of the straining frames 7. Each of the sockets 32 is provided with a slot 27 adapted to permit the hand screw 6 to be disengaged from the lug 5 without disengagement from the ear 33. Bolted to the kettle are three hooks 19 by which the straining frames may be secured when the pedal mechanism is not utilized. 2-0 is a pitch indicator which may be of any desired type. V

The method of operation of my new and improved kettledrum is as follows: The parts having first been assembled as shown in Fig. 1, the drum is tuned to the normal pitch desired by means of the hand screws 6. When it is desired to ehangethe pitch during the performance of a musical composition the drummer presses upon the heel 29 of the pedal 15, thus rocking the shaft 1 and imparting a reverse rotative movement to the bevel gear 13, which movement is transmitted to the gear 12. As the gear 12 is rotated its consequent progression longitudinally of the post 11 with which it is in screw threaded engagement forces the post upward, downward movement of the gear being prevented by the extremity of the stanchion 9 against which it bears. With the post 11, the kettle 1 is also raised, and its rim, bearing against the under surface of the skin 2, forces the head upward, and by means of the variation of position of the kettle relative to the position of the flesh hoop, which remains stationary owing to the restraint imposed bythe resistance of the strain hoop, increases the tension on the skin thereby raising the pitch. When the indicator records that the desired degree of change of pitch is attained pressure on the pedal is discontinued; the foot may then be removed from the pedal, as the parts of the drum will be retained by the friction of the actuating mechanism in the position in which they have been set until their position is again altered by pressure on the pedal. Return to the normal pitch is efi'ected by applying pressure to the offset 16 which imparts a forward rocking movement to the shaft 14 and corresponding rotative movement to the gear 13. This rotative movement is transmitted to the gear 12 and the resulting upward progression of gear 12 1ongitudinally of the post permits the lowering of the kettle under the stress of the combined weight of the kettle and supporting posts,

augmented by the pressure exerted by the skin tension. This radually diminishes the tension and lowers t e pitch until, when the indicator again records the normal, the pressure is discontinued and the foot removed from the pedal.

The principal advantages resulting from the particular construction and operation of my new and improved tympanum may be summarized as follows: 7

The application of power to move the kettle relatively to a fixed hoop is more effective and accurate than the old method and less power is required to obtain better results. The elimination of the side motion of the pedal facilities and expedites the required change of pitch which is almost instantaneous. The reduction of bulk and weight render it practical for transportation, as it is portable in trunks no larger than those used for ordinary kettle drums, may be knocked down and transported in one trunk, and is but little heavier than the ordinary type of kettle drum owing to the fact that the weight of eliminated parts approximates that of the pedal tuning mechanism. The pedal tuning mechanism is adapted to attachment to any kettle drum of the ordinary type. Finally the cost of construction is relatively lower. I

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: i

1. A tympanum embodying in combination a stand, a kettle movably supported thereon, a head drawn over the rim of the kettle and secured to a flesh hoop, means secured to said stand to prevent upward move ment of said hoop, and means to move the kettle relatively to the hoop.

2. A tympanum embodying in combination a stand, a kettle movably supported thereon, a head drawn over the rim of the kettle and secured to a flesh hoop, means secured to said stand to prevent upward movement of said hoop, and means to move the kettle relatively to the hoop comprising a horizontal rock shaft mounted in bearings secured to said stand, a pedal mounted on said shaft, a bevel gear keyed to said shaft, a horizontal bevel gear meshing with said first gear and interiorly screw threaded to engage a screw-threaded post secured to the kettle, and bearing downwardly upon a supporting member secured to said stand.-

3. A tympanum, embodying in combination a stand, a kettle supported thereon, a. flesh hook embracing said kettle, means to restrict the movement of said hoop relatively to said stand and means to vary in a vertical plane the position of said kettle relatively to said stand. 7

4. A tympanum, embodying pedal tuning mechanism, saidmechanism comprising a rock shaft mounted in horizontal bearings secured to said shaft, a vertical bevel gear keyed to said shaft, a horizontal bevel gear meshing with said vertical gear, and interiorly screw threaded to engage a. screw threaded vertical shaft, and means to transmit the movement of said vertical shaft to the head straining mechanism.

5. A tympanum, embodying a stand, a kettle movably supported on said stand, and

. pedal-actuated mechanism to move the kettle relatively to the stand, combined with a straining hoop embracing said kettle, a plurality of straining rods secured at their lower extremities to said stand, and each provided at its upper extremity with a hook, a plurality of V shaped straining frames in engagement with said hooks and provided at their upper extremities with ears, each of said ears being screw threaded to engage the screw-threaded lower extremity of a hand screw, and a plurality of said hand screws, each being provided adjacent its handle with a ball to engage a ball socket in a lug secured to the straining hoop, said sockets being provided with slots to permit disengagement of said hand screws from said sockets without disengagement from said straining frames.

6. A tympanum, embodying a kettle, a plurality of hooks bolted to the wall thereof, a plurality of V-shaped straining frames in engagement with said hooks and provided at their extremities with screw-threaded ears, a straining hoop provided with a plurality of socketed lugs, each of said sockets being provided with a slot, a plurality of hand screws screw-threaded at their lower extremities to engage said ears and each pro vided adjacent its handle with a ball adapted to engage a lug socket.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 8th day of February 1918.

CARL E. GARDNER.

lVitnesses HAROLD C. HAsKELL, CARROLL L. PERKINS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

